Faith in Jesus Christ is our response to God's elective purpose in our life. These two truths–God's initiative and man's response–co-exist throughout the Bible. The gospel is "the message of truth" because truth is its predominant characteristic. Salvation was conceived by the God of truth (Ps. 31:5); purchased by the Son, who is the truth (John 14:6); and is applied by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). To know it is to know the truth that sets men free (John 8:32). Believers are people of the truth (John 18:37), who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and who obey the Word of truth (John 17:17). People have rejected, neglected, redefined, and opposed God’s truth for centuries. Some cynically deny that truth even exists or that it can be known by men (John 18:38). Others foolishly think that denying truth will somehow make it go away. Truth determines the validity of one's belief. Believing a lie doesn't make it true. Conversely, failing to believe the truth doesn't make it a lie. The gospel is true because Jesus is true, not simply because Christians believe in Him. His resurrection proved the truth of His claims and constitutes the objective basis of our faith (Rom. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:3). Truth is our protection and strength (Eph. 6:14). Throughout history, people have tried everything imaginable to gain favor with God. Most turn to religion, but religion apart from Christ is merely a satanic counterfeit of the truth. At the heart of every false religion is the notion that man can come to God by any means he chooses–by meditating, doing good deeds, and so on. But Scripture says, "There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). That name is Jesus Christ, and we come to Him by confessing and repenting of our sin, trusting in His atoning death on the cross, and affirming His bodily resurrection from the grave (cf. Rom. 10:9-10). There is no other way to God. False religious leaders and teachers talk much about God’s love, but not His wrath and holiness; much about how deprived of good things people are, but not about their depravity; much about God’s universal fatherhood toward everyone, but not much about his unique fatherhood toward all who believe in His Son; much about what God wants to give to us, but nothing about the necessity of obedience to Him; much about health and happiness, but nothing about holiness and sacrifice. Their message is full of gaps, the greatest of which leaves out a biblical worldview of the saving gospel and replaces it with the worldview of postmodernism with its dominant ethical system of relativism. The Bible describes mankind in the end times: “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Spiritual answers cannot be deduced by human reason alone (1 Cor. 2:14). It’s not that spiritual truth is irrational or illogical, but that human wisdom is defective, because it’s tainted by man’s sinfulness, and unable to perceive the things of God. That is why the Bible is so important. It gives us the answers we can’t find on our own. It is God’s Word to mankind. Scripture is divinely revealed truth that fills the vacuum of spiritual ignorance in all of us. Post-truth is the word of the year for 2016 and also the philosophy of the day, According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. In a “post-truth” world, people make choices based on emotion and experience rather than objective fact. So in a post-truth world, truth is irrelevant. What exactly is a post-truth culture? It’s a culture where truth is no longer an objective reality. It has become subjective. It’s what’s true for me—my beliefs, my opinions, determine my truth. So in our post-truth culture, man determines truth. Man makes himself the ultimate authority. This starting point, which rejects God’s Word and the idea of moral absolutes, makes truth subjective. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Christianity is grounded in objective truth. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Objective truth exists because we have God’s Word. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Thy word is truth” (John 17:17), and Paul and James describe the Bible as “the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:18). The Psalmist says, “The entirety of your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). Jesus Himself said, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). When Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6), He wasn’t expressing His personal belief or opinion. He was speaking the truth, a fundamental reality that doesn’t change from person to person. It doesn’t matter if our culture thinks all roads lead to God. The truth of the matter is “no one comes to the Father but by [Jesus].” This blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell

Daily Archives: March 3, 2017

Mar. 3, 2017 |

BLOOMBERG

With the Russian currency already going from best to worst among major peers in a matter of weeks, the increasing likelihood that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month is set to deal another blow to the ruble by cutting into its appeal as a carry-trade.

Congress hasn’t figured out how to pay for it yet, but more than 350 companies have told the Trump administration they’re interested in working on the controversial border-wall project. Responses to what’s called a presolicitation notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website on Feb. 24 have poured in from potential vendors around the world. Among them: Swiss cement giant LafargeHolcim Ltd.; British construction company Balfour Beatty Plc; and General Dynamics Corp., a U.S. defense contractor that makes submarines and tanks.

Turkey vowed to capture a Syrian town if the U.S. doesn’t clear out the Kurdish fighters who control it, signaling its patience has worn thin over Washington’s backing of the militia — a partner in the campaign against Islamic State.

The threat to U.S. airports from terror groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State is expected to grow because of instability in parts of the Middle East and Asia, a former high-ranking intelligence official said Thursday.

Following reports that a major chunk of their health-care legislation was being held for House GOP review in a secret room somewhere in the Capitol complex, Democrats and Republicans who hadn’t been invited started the hunt. Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, was first on the scene of the supposed secret location.

The world’s biggest pension fund posted the biggest quarterly gain in its history as Japanese stocks surged and a plunge in the yen boosted overseas investments after Donald Trump’s election victory. The Government Pension Investment Fund returned 8 percent, or 10.5 trillion yen ($92 billion), in the three months ended Dec. 31.

AP Top Stories

The Philippines on Thursday dismissed as “thoughtless and irresponsible” a report by Human Rights Watch that President Rodrigo Duterte had turned a blind eye to murders by police in what the group called a “campaign of extrajudicial execution”.

Wildlife officials say they have evidence of a rare jaguar sighting in the United States Dos Cabezas Mountains in Arizona, giving conservationists hope that the endangered cat is re-establishing itself here.

Yahoo, which disclosed two massive data breaches last year, said on Wednesday that about 32 million user accounts were accessed by intruders in the last two years using forged cookies.

The calm that has prevailed for more than a decade along the Lebanon-Israel border is being rattled by a flurry of fiery warnings from both sides that has many here concerned another war between the Jewish state and Lebanon’s Hezbollah organization may be drawing closer.

California surveyors say the Sierra Nevada snowpack is close to setting records after five years of punishing drought. Officials said Wednesday the snowpack’s water content measured at 185 percent of normal. A year ago, it was 84 percent of normal.

Scientists are one step closer to figuring out what dinosaurs actually looked like-and they’re doing it by pointing laser beams at dinosaur fossils to show previously unknown features and details, including the actual fleshy outlines of prehistoric creatures.

Zimbabwe has appealed for international help for victims of floods that have left 246 people dead and displaced hundreds since December when torrential rains started pounding a country emerging from severe drought.

President Donald Trump announced from the deck of America’s newest aircraft carrier Thursday that he had spoken with maritime leaders to discuss plans for a “major expansion” of the Navy.

Malaysia has canceled visa-free travel for North Koreans, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Thursday at a press conference after the ministry’s Excellent Service Award ceremony in Malaysia.

Before woolly mammoths went extinct thousands of years ago, their dwindling population suffered a series of genetic mutations that hampered their ability to survive, researchers said.

Fiat Chrysler said time and again its Fiat brand can be turned around in the US. It has introduced new models to do so. The plan has not worked. Fiat’s sales continued to free fall in February.

BBC

Alleged members of a Central American street gang have been charged with the deaths of three New York teenagers, in a case cited by President Donald Trump.

More than 160 couples in a village in eastern China have decided to divorce in order to get more compensation after the forced demolition of their homes. The couples found they could qualify for two new houses and at least $19,000 extra if they divorced and claimed compensation as singles. Some are over 80, and most said they planned to continue living together.

A unit of the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin has exceeded the value of an ounce of gold for the first time. It closed at $1,268 on Thursday while a troy ounce of gold stood at $1,233.

Uber has lost its attempt to prevent its drivers being forced to take English language tests. The ride-hailing app went to court after Transport for London (TfL) said that drivers should have to prove their ability to communicate in English.

US air strikes have hit suspected al-Qaeda targets in Yemen for a second consecutive day.

WND

Ryan Zinke, in one of his first acts as the newly seated secretary of Interior, overturned a much-hated and twelfth-hour Barack Obama-era ban on lead ammunition in national parks and wildlife refuges.

The death of a 40-year-old woman was reported by her husband to Gaza Al-An news agency. The report mentioned that the woman before passing away gave birth to 69 children.

Top News – 3/3/2017

The pope will meet all EU leaders ahead of Rome summitPope Francis will meet with the leaders of all EU nations at the Vatican on March 24th ahead of the bloc’s special summit in Rome, Vatican sources said on Thursday. The March 25th summit will mark the 60th anniversary of the bloc’s founding treaty. The pontiff will meet the leaders in the afternoon, the sources said.

Is There Actually a Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism in America?Dozens of bomb threats have been called into Jewish institutions since early January, and scores of headstones at two Jewish cemeteries—one near St. Louis, the other in Philadelphia— were desecrated in February. But is there actually a rising tide of anti-Semitism in America?

Former US official: US and Israel need to get creative to deal with Iran
The US and Israel may need to be creative in dealing with Israel’s neighbors and forming alliances to deal with Iran…Mary Beth Long told an Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference on Iran in Tel Aviv on Thursday. The former top US defense official did not fully spell out what she had in mind, but the implication was that Israel might need to compromise in other areas, possibly on the peace process front, to help line up moderate Sunni allies against Iran.

Jewish cemetery vandalized in Rochester, NY — third incident in US in less than 2 weeks
A Jewish cemetery in Rochester, New York, was vandalized, the third such incident in the United States in less than two weeks. Five headstones were found toppled Thursday morning at the Waad Hakolel Cemetery, also known as the Stone Road Cemetery, in the city in western New York, according to News 10 NBC WHEC…The last two weeks saw vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia and St. Louis, as well as two more waves of bomb threats…

Zimbabwe hit by deadly floods after drought
Zimbabwe has appealed for $100m (£82m) to help those hit by floods that have killed 246 people since December. Officials say floods, which follow a crippling drought, have swept through villages, destroying roads, crops and livestock in the south of the country. The air force has transported some marooned villagers to safety.

Yemen: US air strikes ‘target al-Qaeda’ for second consecutive day
US air strikes have hit suspected al-Qaeda targets in Yemen for a second consecutive day, according to Yemeni security sources and local residents. The home of an al-Qaeda leader in the Yashbum valley, southern Shabwa province, was among the locations hit. On Thursday, the Pentagon said it had carried out more than 20 strikes in Shabwa, Abyan and Baida provinces.

Exorcists warn against Wiccan spell to bind Donald Trump
…“You can’t stop someone from placing a curse, but as a Christian, if you are you praying to God and going to him, the curse will have no power,” Father Lampert said. For Catholics, he said going to Mass, receiving the Eucharist and going to Confession, is strong protection against evil. “Curses are effective when people are weak,” Father Lampert explained. “People are fearing devil more than trusting God.”

Trump’s advisers push him to purge Obama appointees
Advisers to President Donald Trump are urging him to purge the government of former President Barack Obama’s political appointees and quickly install more people who are loyal to him, amid a cascade of damaging stories that have put his nascent administration in seemingly constant crisis-control mode.

Red Cross says seven treated for exposure to toxic agents near Mosul
Five children and two women are receiving treatment for exposure to chemical agents near the Iraqi city of Mosul, where Islamic State is fighting off an offensive by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday. The ICRC “condemns in the strongest possible terms the use of chemical weapons during fighting around the Iraqi city of Mosul”, it said in a statement.

Are Attacks Against President Trump a Satanic Ploy to Destroy America?Robertson concluded with an appeal to pray for the President and for the nation because he believes the war against the President is a spiritual one. “”We need this land, it’s so important. I counsel you: Pray for this nation, pray for the president, pray for this nation. What’s being done against him surpasses—it’s not human, it’s a spiritual thing.”

Trump’s Official Statement: This Is a ‘Witch Hunt’ Against SessionsAs the White House indicated earlier on Thursday, Trump stands behind his man. In his statement, the president argues that Sessions said nothing wrong and the calls for his resignation amount to nothing more than a “witch hunt.” The media, he says, are ignoring the real story.

Official: Yemen raid yields data on al-Qaida explosives
U.S. special operations forces gathered valuable intelligence on the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen in a raid last month, including data on the explosives they’re manufacturing and the types of threats they’re developing, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

Trump Issues Statement On Sessions’ Recusal
“Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional. This whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election. They lost the election and now, they have lost their grip on reality. The real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!”

The “Sinister” Side Of Central Bank-Issued Digital Currency
Central banks and international financial institutions represent? – ?and work for? – ?creditors first and people second. That is why they can be serially wrong with so little direct consequence. This is the backdrop against which we are invited to trust the banking system with central bank-issued digital currency.

Is Something Strange Happening Inside the Earth?
Why are “giant fountains of lava” suddenly pouring out of some of the most dangerous volcanoes on the entire planet, and why are so many long dormant volcanoes suddenly roaring back to life? The spectacular eruption of Mt. Etna in Italy is making headlines all over the world, but it is far from alone. According to Volcano Discovery, 35 major volcanoes either are erupting right now or have just recently erupted, and dozens of others are stirring. So what is causing this upsurge in volcanic activity? Is something strange happening inside the Earth?

Army places Muslim chaplain in charge of ministering to 14,000 troops In January, Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz received the call every Army chaplain dreams of, the call that validates years of intense study and hard work toward keeping the U.S. military in good spiritual health. He was offered the job of chaplain for an entire division, an honor for anyone in his field but a milestone in his case. After a ceremony this summer, Shabazz will become the first Muslim division-level chaplain in the history of the U.S. military – a Muslim spiritual leader for more than 14,000 mostly Christian soldiers.

Never before have we seen a previous president and his team openly attempt to sabotage the next president, but that is precisely what is happening. Traditionally, most ex-presidents have chosen to move far away from Washington, but Barack Obama decided to purchase a home less than two miles from the White House, and many of his former staff members are either working directly with him or are working for his political organization Organizing for Action. And of particular concern is the fact that Valerie Jarrett has actually moved into Obama’s five million dollar home, which many are referring to as Obama’s “anti-Trump command center”. For eight years the Obamas wouldn’t even sneeze without consulting Valerie Jarrett first, and needless to say Jarrett has not moved in to help them pick out wallpaper and drapes. Jarrett is a hardcore political operative, and she has reportedly convinced Obama that he needs to lead the fight against Trump. (Read More…)

CLIFF KINCAID — “Be a leader, not a Tweeter,” is the advice offered to President Trump by Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD). However, the survey of attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) found that 70 percent of respondents favor Trump’s use of Twitter to communicate…. (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — The script on the immigration debate flipped once again this week. Now it’s a Republican president offering to reach a deal on a grand bargain that includes legalizing illegal immigrants, and it’s Democrats who are balking, saying they can’t trust the president to be an honest broker…. (more)

THE EDITORS OF THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER — President Trump promised again on Tuesday night that Republicans would repeal and replace Obamacare. It was good to hear this expression of resolve, for achieving the desirable goal will require persistence and follow through…. (more)

BYRON YORK — Before President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, I asked several Republican operatives, professionals who both opposed and supported Trump in the GOP primaries, to let me know what they thought…. (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — President Trump has withdrawn the nomination of former Federal Communications Commission Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel. The withdrawal was listed Tuesday on the U.S. Senate website. Her renomination had been announced by former President Barack Obama in January just weeks before leaving office. It was the second time Obama tried to cue Rosenworcel for a new five-year term…. (more)

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON — Establishment furor over the six-week-old Trump administration is growing. Outraged New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently compared President Trump’s victory to disasters in American history that killed and wounded thousands such as the Pearl Harbor surprise bombing and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks…. (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick of Judge Neil Gorsuch may just garner the 60 votes he needs to be confirmed to the bench. After heavy pressure from outside groups, some Democratic senators from red states applauded when Mr. Trump touted Mr. Gorsuch in his address to Congress on Tuesday. Among them were Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and Angus King of Maine, who is registered as an independent but caucuses with the Democrats…. (more)

ANDREW C. MCCARTHY — They’ve taken down General Michael Flynn. The former Trump national-security adviser resigned under fire when a false narrative – – his purported collusion with election-hacking Russians – – was inflamed by criminal intelligence leaks, exacerbated by his poor judgment (or, at the least, poor execution of his duty to brief senior administration officials). Now, the swamp is after its next scalp, Sebastian Gorka, a White House counterterrorism adviser. If the White House is wise, they won’t get it…. (more)

NATIONAL REVIEW — Climate-change alarmists who have been largely unchallenged by the media over the past decade have finally met their match in Fox News host Tucker Carlson. And it ain’t pretty…. (more)

TELEGRAPH — It built its reputation on princesses finding their prince, living happily ever after in storylines which set the benchmark for romance for generations of children. Now, Disney is to move firmly into a new era as it introduces its first “exclusively gay moment”, disclosing the new version of Beauty and the Beast will star a manservant exploring his sexuality…. (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — When Virginia Delegate Robert Marshall asked the state’s 133 local governments to provide numbers on noncitizens and jury pools, Loudoun County produced some hefty figures. Between 2009 and 2014, the Washington, D.C., exurb of more than 350,000 residents had disqualified more than 9,000 of them for jury duty because they were not U.S. citizens…. (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Seeking to jump-start his legislative agenda, President Trump stood before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night and demanded that lawmakers work with him to crack down on illegal immigration, increase economic growth and rebuild the U.S. military – – sticking to the campaign promises that resonated with blue-collar Americans and put him in the White House…. (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — President Trump over the course of one hour on Tuesday delivered a remarkably well-crafted, conventional speech to a joint session of Congress that could reset the political contours of his young presidency and boost support for his agenda…. (more)

RICH LOWRY — I agree with everyone that it was the best Trump speech yet. It’s been mystifying for a while why Trump wouldn’t just do a few simple things to sound a little more unifying and normal, and tonight he did them. He denounced bigotry, struck an optimistic tone, invoked the American story, associated himself with many sympathetic people in the balcony and ended by saying God created us equal…. (more)

NEWSMAX — Tears streaming down her face, the wife of slain Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens was recognized by President Donald Trump during his Tuesday night speech to Congress – – eliciting a more than 2-minute-long applause…. (more)

PHILIP KLEIN — When Barack Obama was president and Republicans raised alarms over the mounting federal debt, there was always a question of whether they’d be just as willing to fight for fiscal restraint when a Republican was president. Tonight, we started to get an answer…. (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — A majority of online and social media defenders of Obamacare are professionals who are “paid to post,” according to a digital expert. “Sixty percent of all the posts were made from 100 profiles, posting between the hours of 9 and 5 Pacific Time,” said Michael Brown. “They were paid to post.”… (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Roughly two dozen pro-life activists, students and clergy held a prayer vigil outside a Planned Parenthood facility in the nation’s capital on Tuesday, kicking off an international campaign to hold around-the-clock outreach efforts outside abortion clinics during the season of Lent…. (more)

NEWSMAX — A total of 225 companies so far have expressed interest in participating in building the border wall, The Hill reports. Large construction companies such as Caddell and engineering firms like Raytheon have added their names to a federal website to be included in the bidding process. Smaller companies also are on the list, and, according to The Hill, 20 are owned by Hispanic Americans…. (more)

WES VERNON — In selecting Tom Perez to head the Democrat National Committee, anti-American leftists have chosen the man to keep the fight going full-speed in their effort to make their capture of the Democrat Party complete…. (more)

CLIFF KINCAID — Bill Gates was recently quoted as saying that bioterrorism could kill more people than nuclear war, but that Western governments are not ready to deal with it. The situation may be worse than he thinks. What news stories about his remarks at the Munich Security Conference did not explain is that the FBI has still failed to resolve the question of who carried out the post-9/11 anthrax attacks on America…. (more)

NEWSMAX — Three high-profile Republican senators said Monday night they want to see a full repeal and replace of Obamacare, not merely a fix. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, and Rand Paul of Kentucky said on their individual Twitter accounts they’d like the 2010 Affordable Care Act wiped from the books so a replacement law can be put in its place…. (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — The leader of the conservative Freedom Caucus won’t vote for an Obamacare repeal bill that includes refundable tax credits, a key part of potential legislation to gut the law…. (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — Houston, we have a (bigger) problem. Although it received little attention, this week total federal debt surpassed an incredible $20 trillion. To put that in perspective, that’s larger than the entire economies of China, Japan, and Germany combined…. (more)

On today’s program we analyze the spiritual, financial and moral condition of the United States of America, a nation founded upon biblical teachings and moral Law. We discuss just how far we have fallen from our beginnings and how we have allowed enemies of America to infiltrate our government and undermine the Christian foundation of our nation.

Let’s look at Saul Alinsky’s infamous Rules for Radicals and the Cloward-Piven Strategy; both have been used to undermine our nation and set us up for a tremendous and perhaps a fatal national fall. Just how close are we, can this trend be reversed, and what are Christians to do about all this?

Daily podcast, relevant articles on issues pertaining to Christians and more can be found on Stand Up For The Truth.

This morning we discuss an article by Pastor Bryan Fischer who points the finger squarely at the professing Christian Church in America for our nation’s decline in morality and biblical values. The Christian Church is supposed to be the moral and spiritual conscience of our nation, challenging government and people when they stray from God. Instead, Fischer thinks it has become the problem rather than the solution. We also check in with Julaine Appling of Wisconsin Family Action to discuss the spiritual and political climate in Madison regarding life, marriage, and religious freedom issues. From today’s interview with Julaine: “Law is always downstream of culture.”

Daily podcast, relevant articles on issues pertaining to Christians and more can be found on Stand Up For The Truth.

This morning we look at the continuing deterioration of our public education system. We cover stories about kindergarten children being indoctrinated in the LGBT movement, Universities teaching courses on “White privilege,” and a story by Linda Harvey at WND with some concerns about President Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy Devos, wondering if she has sold out to the LGBT movement.

We also check in with Tina Griffin of Counter Culture Mom reporting from the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention. We’ll discuss Cosmopolitan Magazine’s ‘porn,’ and of course, the Oscars and the fact that many Hollywood celebrities have no idea how out of touch they are with regular Americans.

Daily podcast, relevant articles on issues pertaining to Christians and more can be found on Stand Up For The Truth.

America and the Christian churches in it are rapidly reaching a crossroad when it comes to Islam. Islam in its teachings calls for world wide domination and submission to Allah, the false god of Islam. Unbelievers, those Islam refers to as “infidels,” either convert to Islam, face very punitive restrictions, or sometimes they are put to death. This is the “jihad” taught in the Quran. Jihad has three unique stages, each one building power upon the other. As Muslim presence increases, pressure is applied on a nation and its people to conform or face dire consequences. Elijah Abraham, a former Muslim and now born-again believer joins us this morning. to explain what’s happening in the states and what Christians can do.

Daily podcast, relevant articles on issues pertaining to Christians and more can be found on Stand Up For The Truth.

This morning we cover a fascinating story from World Net Daily about Hollywood actually planning to release a movie about how a homosexual walked away from the gay lifestyle and became a Christian pastor. And it is not some low grade production with “B List” actors. It stars a couple of prominent actors–one of whom is an open homosexual and activist for the movement.

In our first segment we check in with William Murray of The Religious Freedom Coalition, looking at the plight of Christians in Egypt and Nigeria, along with how Christians are being left behind in the wave of immigration hitting Europe and America.

Daily podcast, relevant articles on issues pertaining to Christians and more can be found on Stand Up For The Truth.

This blog is an aggregator of news and information that we believe will provide articles that will keep people informed about current trends, current events, discussions and movements taking place within our church and culture.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107,material here is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes.

A headline link on this blog post doesn’t necessarily mean that there is agreement or approval with all the views and opinions expressed within the headline linked article. Caution is also warranted with regards to the advertisements and links that are embedded within the headline linked article.

*Please note that the preceding blog post content is formed by my personal conviction, values, worldview and opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.

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4:18 path of the … light of dawn. The path of the believer is one of increasing light, just as a sunrise begins with the faint glow of dawn and proceeds to the splendor of noonday.

MacArthur Study Bible

4:18–19 The path of the righteous is the way of wisdom (v. 11). dawn … full day. The image here is of ever-increasing brightness, from first light until noon. The path of a person refers to the moral orientation of his or her life (v. 14; cf. 2:8, 13, 15, 20; 3:6; Ps. 25:4). It is this that shines brighter and brighter, i.e., keeps increasing in the way in which it displays God’s light (cf. Ps. 19:8; 119:105, 130; Prov. 6:23). This contrasts with the way of the wicked (4:19), which is the way of “evil” (v. 14). The person whose life is oriented toward evil will stumble through life in deep darkness.

Second Peter 3:18 commands believers to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Your response to this verse is either action or inaction. If you desire to mature in Christ, you will experience blessing, usefulness, and victory by following the biblical path of glorifying God. And as David discovered, you will also experience joy: “I have set the Lord always before me…. Therefore my heart is glad” (Ps. 16:8, 9).

The apostle John summed up the goal of spiritual growth when he said, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). The growth process will end on the day that we see Jesus Christ and become like Him.[1]

March 3

Standing Against the Devil

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

James 4:7b

✧✧✧

Anyone who possesses scriptural humility will take an uncompromising stand against Satan.

The successful diplomat or politician is quite adept at the art of compromise and finding the middle ground on various issues. But such skill is a hindrance when it comes to determining your position before God. If you humbly, by faith and repentance, submit yourself to God’s authority, you will immediately find yourself the enemy of Satan. You are either in God’s kingdom and under His lordship, or you are in Satan’s kingdom and under his lordship. It is impossible to have one foot in each kingdom and to be serving both kingdoms’ rulers.

To “resist the devil” gives us insight into what it means to be an enemy of Satan. “Resist” means “to take a stand against” the person of Satan and his entire system, which includes everything he does and represents. Such resistance is the complete opposite of the position you had before you submitted to God. Ephesians 2:1–2 reminds us of what that position was: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan].” At that time, you had no power to resist the Devil and no desire to serve God, because you were slaves to Satan and his system (Heb. 2:14–15).

But all of that can and will change if you humbly switch your allegiance from Satan’s kingdom to God’s kingdom. In today’s verse the apostle James is promising you that as a part of that changed loyalty, you will automatically be in a position to take a stand against Satan. The minute you forsake Satan’s mastery he will flee from you.

Many Christians wrongly assume that Satan is much more powerful than he really is. But if you understand James’s promise you will know you have abundant spiritual resources to handle Satan’s empty threats. Being humble before God doesn’t mean being weak before Satan. God enables you to stand firm and resist.

✧✧✧

Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God for the wealth of spiritual resources He provides for you to stand against the Devil.

For Further Study: Read Ephesians 6:10–18. Make a list of the spiritual weapons God has given us. ✧ Pick one of these, and do some additional reading and study to improve your application of it.[2]

MARCH 3

AN OVERWHELMING SENSE OF DISMAY

Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

—Exodus 3:6

In olden days men of faith were said to “walk in the fear of God” and to “serve the Lord with fear.” However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent runs through the whole Bible and gives color and tone to the character of the saints. This fear of God was more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was a nonrational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty.

Wherever God appeared to men in Bible times the results were the same—an overwhelming sense of terror and dismay, a wrenching sensation of sinfulness and guilt. When God spoke, Abram stretched himself upon the ground to listen. When Moses saw the Lord in the burning bush, he hid his face in fear to look upon God. Isaiah’s vision of God wrung from him the cry, “Woe is me!” and the confession, “I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips” [Isaiah 6:5]. KOH110-111

Lord, when do I ever get that sense of sinfulness and guilt, fear and dismay in my encounters with You? Forgive me for my casual approach to You and renew in me a fear and wonder in Your presence. Amen.[3]

March 3

God the Source of Mercy

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.—Matt. 5:7

Pure mercy is a gift of God that comes with the new birth. People can be merciful only when they have experienced God’s mercy.

God has both absolute and relative attributes. His absolute attributes—such as love, truth, and holiness—have characterized Him from all eternity. But His relative attributes—like mercy, justice, and grace—were not manifested until man, whom He created in His own image, sinned and became separated from his Creator. Apart from sin and evil, mercy, justice, and grace have no meaning.

When man fell, God extended His love to His fallen creatures in mercy. Only when they receive His mercy can they reflect His mercy. Thus God is the source of mercy. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness [mercy] toward those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:11). It is because we have the resource of God’s mercy that Jesus commanded, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

We cannot have the blessing apart from the Blesser. We cannot even meet the condition apart from the One who set the condition. We are blessed by God when we are merciful to others, and we are able to be merciful to others because we have already received salvation’s mercy. Furthermore, when we share the mercy we have received, we will receive even more mercy.

ASK YOURSELF

When we talk about Christ’s character being formed in us, we understand the concept in theory. But what are some of the telltale signs that He is actually working His will through us in our interactions with others? How do you know when it’s Him, not you—when it’s the Spirit of God bearing fruit in your life?[4]

MARCH 3

GLORY OF THE TRINITY

Three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1 John 5:7

The more I read my Bible, the more I believe in the triune God!

With the prophet Isaiah, I am stirred by the vision of the heavenly creatures, the seraphim around the throne of God, engrossed in their worship and praise.

I have often wondered why the rabbis and saints and hymnists of the olden times did not come to the knowledge of the Trinity just from the seraphims’ chorus: “Holy! Holy! Holy!”

I am a Trinitarian—I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, begotten of Him before all ages. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.

Isaiah was an astonished man. He could only manage this witness: “Mine eyes have seen the King” (6:5). Only the King of glory can reveal Himself to the willing spirit of a man so that an Isaiah, or any other man or woman, can say with humility but with assurance, “I know Him!”

Lord, the modern world has all but packed You into a small box and placed You in the corner closet—accessing You only for occasional holidays or special family events. But in reality You are a great God, and I bow before You today.[5]

March 3

Uncompromising Prayer

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus … I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer” (Dan. 9:1–3).

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Uncompromising prayer brings glory to God.

Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:1–19 illustrates the key elements of effective intercessory prayer. Those elements will serve as the focus of our studies for several days, but first some background to Daniel’s prayer will be helpful.

Verse 1 says that Daniel prayed in the first year of the reign of King Darius, the first great king of the Medo-Persian Empire. About sixty-five years earlier, God had punished the sinful kingdom of Judah by allowing King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to conquer Jerusalem and take Israelite captives back to Babylon.

Subsequently the Babylonian Empire fell to the Medo-Persian Empire. Darius conquered Babylon on the night King Belshazzar threw a drunken festival at which God wrote the doom of his kingdom on the wall (Dan. 5:24–28).

Daniel was among the captives originally transported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. Throughout the lengthy captivity period, he never forgot he was God’s child and always represented God properly despite his difficult circumstances. He was a man of uncommon wisdom and courage. His trust in God was unwavering and his commitment to prayer uncompromising—even when his prayers could have cost him his life (Dan. 6:4–11).

As a result, God protected him, exalted him, and was glorified through him—as evidenced by King Darius’ decree that everyone in the kingdom was to fear and tremble before Daniel’s great God (Dan. 6:26).

Since Daniel understood the priority of prayer, he refused to be intimidated or distracted from it. His commitment is worthy of imitation. Can that be said of you? If everyone followed your pattern of prayer, would God’s Kingdom be strengthened?

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Suggestions for Prayer: Consistency is important in prayer. You might try praying for different requests on specific days. For example, on Mondays you could pray for your governmental leaders, on Tuesdays for your pastor and the ministries of your church, etc.

For Further Study: Read Daniel 6. ✧ What rank did Daniel hold? ✧ Why did King Darius want to promote Daniel? ✧ What was the reaction of the commissioners and satraps to Daniel’s popularity? ✧ How did they deceive the king? ✧ How did God protect Daniel?[6]

MARCH 3

SPIRITUAL EXCELLENCE: FREEDOM IN THE SPIRIT

Now the LORD is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:17

The essence of true religion is spontaneity, the sovereign movings of the Holy Spirit upon and in the free spirit of redeemed men. This has through the years of human history been the hallmark of spiritual excellency, the evidence of reality in a world of unreality.

When religion loses its sovereign character and becomes mere form this spontaneity is lost also, and in its place come precedent, propriety, system—and the file-card mentality!

Back of the file-card mentality is the belief that spirituality can be organized. Then is introduced into religion those ideas which never belong there—numbers, statistics, the law of averages and other such natural and human things. And creeping death always follows!

Now a file card is a very harmless little tool and a very useful one for some purposes. Its danger comes from the well-known human tendency to depend upon external helps in dealing with internal things.

Here’s how the file card works when it gets into the Christian life and begins to create mental habits: it divides the Bible into sections fitted to the days of the year and compels the Christian to read according to rule. No matter what the Holy Spirit may be trying to say to a man, still he goes on reading where the card tells him, dutifully checking it off each day. This can be a deadly snare, and often liable to quench the spontaneous operation of the Spirit![7]